But aldermen back Emanuel's move to delay 'day of reckoning'

A budget watchdog said Thursday that Mayor Rahm Emanuel's effort to put off Chicago's pension "day of reckoning" could have dire consequences for the retirement funds, even as several aldermen lined up to back the mayor's stance.

"We have less than 10 years to save the funds from insolvency — delay is not an option," said Laurence Msall, president of the nonpartisan Civic Federation. "The city's pension funds are already dangerously close to where they cannot be saved."

The comments came after the Tribune reported that Emanuel wants to push back the 2015 state-imposed deadline to start fully funding police and fire pension plans while he engineers a comprehensive reform and revenue plan. The mayor's chief ally in Springfield, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, has filed legislation that would require small property tax increases starting in 2018 and allow the city to delay the need for big pension payment increases to 2022.

In contrast to Msall, aldermen said that with the General Assembly stalled on pension changes, keeping in place the deadline would result in gutting vital city services, sending property taxes soaring or both.

"It's a bad spot," said Ald. Patrick O'Connor, 40th, the mayor's City Council floor leader and head of the council committee that deals with labor agreements. "It would be a budget that I don't think anyone would want to see coming down the pike."

O'Connor was referring to the 2015 budget, which Emanuel must propose and the council must approve late next year, just as the city election season gets underway.

If the city were to pay for the increased pension tab solely with property tax revenue, homeowners would see a hike of nearly 50 percent on the city portion of their tax bills.

Emanuel told the Tribune in an interview Wednesday that his own "re-election is not the problem." Rather, he said, it's the potential burden on taxpayers.

The current state deadline is "like a blunt instrument" that's "not right for taxpayers," the mayor said. Delaying it would give the city a chance to wring more concessions from the unions and lessen the burden on taxpayers, including city workers, he said.

Msall noted the issue of underfunded pension systems has been growing worse for years and has in many cases been exacerbated by temporary reductions in government funding. "The thought that the city taking more time will provide an easier answer to the city doesn't back up the experience of these pension funds," he said.

Ald. Bob Fioretti, 2nd, a frequent Emanuel critic, said "we have to reverse this artificial goal post" set for 2015 — even as he criticized "the inability of the administration to bring people together" on the issue.

Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th, said that in order to fully fund pensions without a huge property tax increase, the city would have to lay off police officers and firefighters.

"There's a reality that police and fire pensions might force us to cut police and fire service," he said, adding that he backed the effort to put off the deadline.

"I think not only is it reasonable, it's the wise move," he said. "Because what else are you going to do? You can only control what you can control. You are talking about a catastrophic increase in property taxes."